Jonathan Tewodros, Writer

The men’s tennis team opened up Patriot League play March 22 at home when they played new league member Loyola (Md.) in what became their first win of the spring. The Bison finished the weekend in Delaware when they lost a non-league bout with Delaware on March 23.

The Bison posted wins at No.1 and No.3 doubles and No.1, No.3, No.4, No.5, and No.6 singles in the match against Loyola. The No.1 doubles team of Aidan Lynch ’14 and Nick Bybel ’16 rallied in a tiebreaker to clinch the doubles point for the Orange and Blue. Octavio Canibe ’15 and Scott Bernstein ’14 also teamed up for a victory, while Bybel, Canibe, Bryan Adams ’17, Kyle Rosen ’14 and Irwin Reibeisen ’14 added individual wins. The final score of the Patriot League bout was 6-1 in the Bison’s favor.

“We were very happy to gain our first win, especially against a Patriot League team. Loyola joined our conference this year and has built a solid team,” Bernstein said.

Against Delaware, the Orange and Blue posted wins at No.3 doubles and No.5 and No.6 singles. Canibe and Bernstein came away with the No.3 double win, while Rosen and Bernstein came away with the No.5 and No.6 single victories. The final score of the bout was 5-2 in Delaware’s favor.

“We battled tough in all of our singles matches. We are beginning to adjust our games to outdoor tennis – grinding longer points and taking advantage of opportunities to expose our strengths,” Berstein said. “The Delaware team proved to beat us in the indoor courts, and we’ve been able to learn from our loss.”

Overall, the Bison look forward to keeping their unbeaten league play alive as they host Navy in a Patriot League showdown tomorrow. They will come into the league bout with a 1-9 overall record but a 1-0 Patriot League record.